Huskies' offer to resume Gonzaga series seems one-sided

Got in a fender-bender the other day. The other guy and I agreed that we were equally at fault.

So he agreed to pay for my headlight. And I consented to covering his fender, hood, moulding, wheel, striping and paint.

Sound equitable? That's pretty much the deal that Washington just floated past Gonzaga in a misbegotten attempt to revive the moribund basketball series just about everybody in our state wants to see.

Everything about the proposal, from the public nature of it to the offer itself, reeks of such staggering chutzpah, the purple paint at Hec Ed must have peeled.

You may know the particulars: Back in late 2006, Washington announced it was curtailing the series when the contract ran out that season, saying it wanted to pursue a more national schedule. It had a lot to do with events of 2002, when the Zags were one of a handful of schools turning in UW assistant coach Cameron Dollar for improper recruiting contacts, primarily in the pursuit of Josh Heytvelt, a key Gonzaga target.

So a good series went dark. The schools have talked since from time to time, but nothing came of it.

Then Washington e-mailed a proposal to Gonzaga athletic director Mike Roth this week. He read it Wednesday morning: Three-year deal starting next season, all the games at KeyArena, an even split of gate receipts and tickets in the 17,072-seat building

Within a couple of hours, the Huskies had leaked the proposal to a local radio guy. That, of course, begged attempts at comment from Washington, and UW officials pulled hamstrings leaping up to supply them.

In the world of spin-doctoring, they call this getting out in front of the story.

"It's a great proposal," said Scott Woodward, the athletic director.

"We're excited," said Lorenzo Romar, the coach.

"Now the ball's in their court, so to speak," said Richard Kilwien, associate AD for athletic communications.

What, no comment from the night watchman at Hec Ed? Be glad no UW people are involved in nuclear-nonproliferation talks with North Korea.

If you're thinking Gonzaga is fried by this, you're on the right track. Maybe that's simply what Washington wanted. If it felt it was blindsided by the Dollar allegations, maybe this was the payback fence-post-to-the-forehead, seven years later.

The issue also comes six months after the Huskies were peeved at the perceived leak by Washington State of negotiations that would have moved the Apple Cup to Qwest Field. So this week, maybe Washington was aiming at Pullman and hit Spokane instead.

At any rate, the proposal has roughly the same chance of flying as New Jersey Tech does of cutting down the nets in Indianapolis on a Monday night next April. Washington knows this, too.

Two ways it can work: If the teams play a true home-and-home — now there's a quaint concept — or alternate between Spokane Arena (capacity 12,000) and KeyArena.

More cash at the Key? True, but don't forget that's after you pay rental charges. And count on this: At both schools, the money is far, far secondary to maximizing the opportunity to win the game.

But, you say, the Huskies are being magnanimous in allowing the Zags into downtown Seattle and fertile recruiting areas nearby.

Well, Gonzaga already has brought teams like Connecticut and Tennessee to the Battle in Seattle. I'm convinced Gonzaga will never make wholesale recruiting hay around here. Washington is the urban school recruiting urban kids. If they don't become Huskies, they go to Louisville or Texas or UCLA.

Moreover, there are already people in Spokane who don't think they see enough of their team in December, when the Zags are off playing Duke at Madison Square Garden. Try explaining to those folks why they have to travel 290 miles annually to see Gonzaga play a team it has beaten eight of the past nine tries.

The Huskies point out that this way, more fans can see the game. And how important were those fans when the series was discontinued?

If and when they work this out, there won't be any trouble filling the seats. The grandstanding, the Huskies have already taken care of.

Bud Withers: 206-464-8281 or bwithers@seattletimes.com